Thrive

Tough times necessitate careful attention to finances -- Warren Buffett warily analyzes every potential investment, while MC Hammer warily ponders peanut butter and jelly. Get the full picture, with Thrive.

Founded by a NY institutional finance vet, Thrive's a user-friendly self-econ-help site compiling personal finance info and offering sensible spending advice, all in a pleasantly cartoonish format -- suggesting your dad might've been more persuasive had he dressed as a chicken. Plug your accounts (checking/savings/cc/investments/mortgage) into Thrive's bank-level protected system, and your info immediately comes up in a comprehensive dashboard, with transactions auto-sorted into dozens of sub-categories, i.e., utility bill vs gym fee vs laundry, but you can easily adjust designations, in case CakeFarts.com is mistakenly listed as "groceries". Breaking down income, purchases, bills, etc, Thrive then provides 1-10 "health" scores for areas like debt, spending, and overall finances, and offers three personally-tailored suggestions, from switching your savings account, to reasonable expenditure cutbacks (spend less at CakeFarts.com, and more on groceries).

Thrive also helps you prepare for unforeseen circumstances by comparing your savings with your avg daily expenditures to determine how many days you can survive without a job, which, given the ineptitude that got you fired, can probably be measured in Hammertime.